Plans underway to get coddling month under control

By Judie Steeves - Kelowna Capital News - October 28, 2007

As the Sterile Insect Release program moves from an aggressive effort to control the codling moth pest to a maintenance program, efforts are underway to gain support for the program in more than financial ways.At Friday’s regular SIR meeting, board members agreed to move to have the valley designated as an area of low pest prevalence under the North American Plant Protection Organization.That will require that efforts be made by some other bodies to ensure compliance with those regulations. For instance, the pathways in and out of the SIR program service area have to be restricted so that it isn’t re-infested with the devastating apple pest. Fruit bin movements as well as the import of nursery stock and ungraded fruit which could be infested have to be controlled—but that isn’t something SIR staff can control, explained general manager Cara McCurrach. Instead, growers must take steps to make sure it’s controlled through the Ministry of Agriculture or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.Packinghouses and nurseries must also make sure there is no re-contamination of areas where the codling moth has been controlled, she noted.

McCurrach said it’s important that everyone work together to ensure the codling moth is controlled, including those with backyard host trees such as crabapples, and orchardists with fruit trees such as apples or pears.That way, the valley can remain an area where fewer pesticides are used and the costs for the program can be kept down.McCurrach said they should ensure people are educated about the program, so it will continue to be successful. “If you spend $55 million on a control program, you want to do all you can to protect what you’ve achieved,” she explained.The board voted to send a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies which give advice about trees to plant, to request that such codling moth host trees as crabapples are not recommended for people to plant.

In 2008, the incentive for those with such backyard trees to remove them will be gone, she noted. Throughout the valley, she said the SIR program has met its goals and has been generally successful at controlling the codling moth, but there remain hot spots where there are more problems with the pest than in other areas.For instance, there’s better control both north and south of the Central Okanagan.The board also voted to look at the potential of applying for an Integrated Community Sustainability project grant from gas tax revenues through the Union of B.C. Municipalities.The SIR program board is made up of representatives from all the regional districts in the valley.